I ran into a silly column written by a superficial person, so I decided to write a little instead of reading this fluff - "I Would Trade a Career for a Family of My Own."
Sermon writing must be a terrible burden today, because so many ministers steal theirs from the Net or rely on what the synod sends them.
The way to become a Lutheran guru today is to avoid higher education, avoid the parish, and blog as a pretend pastor - delivering advice and sharp rebukes to real pastors! Satire has become reality.
My week peaks at the idea of writing a sermon, especially when I have used the text many times. I recall being a newbie and wondering where to go. That got me reading What Luther Says, a wonderful gift from a member. Later I got the Luther Sermons set from Grand Rapids. Now I wonder where to stop. Luther has a sermon's worth of content in one quotation. The reason is simple - he lived in the Word and dwelt on some passages all day, so the work bore fruit. Being a genius helped, too. Luther may have had the highest IQ in history, based on his early development and later career.
The rest of us have to stumble along, but the effort is fulfilling.
As someone said long ago, "Where else can a man speak for 20 to 30 minutes without interruption and say anything he wants?" The pulpit is the only place. That old pagan Herman Melville opined in his brilliant chapter on the seafarers' chapel in Moby Dick that the pulpit steers the world.
The wife of a whaling captain had provided the chapel with a handsome pair of red worsted man-ropes for this ladder, which, being itself nicely headed, and stained with a mahogany color, the whole contrivance, considering what manner of chapel it was, seemed by no means in bad taste. Halting for an instant at the foot of the ladder, and with both hands grasping the ornamental knobs of the man-ropes, Father Mapple cast a look upwards, and then with a truly sailorlike but still reverential dexterity, hand over hand, mounted the steps as if ascending the main-top of his vessel.
The perpendicular parts of this side ladder, as is usually the case with swinging ones, were of cloth-covered rope, only the rounds were of wood, so that at every step there was a joint. At my first glimpse of the pulpit, it had not escaped me that however convenient for a ship, these joints in the present instance seemed unnecessary. For I was not prepared to see Father Mapple after gaining the height, slowly turn round, and stooping over the pulpit, deliberately drag up the ladder step by step, till the whole was deposited within, leaving him impregnable in his little Quebec.
I pondered some time without fully comprehending the reason for this. Father Mapple enjoyed such a wide reputation for sincerity and sanctity, that I could not suspect him of courting notoriety by any mere tricks of the stage. No, thought I, there must be some sober reason for this thing; furthermore, it must symbolize something unseen. Can it be, then, that by that act of physical isolation, he signifies his spiritual withdrawal for the time, from all outward worldly ties and connexions? Yes, for replenished with the meat and wine of the word, to the faithful man of God, this pulpit, I see, is a self- containing stronghold - a lofty Ehrenbreitstein, with a perennial well of water within the walls.
But the side ladder was not the only strange feature of the place, borrowed from the chaplain's former sea-farings. Between the marble cenotaphs on either hand of the pulpit, the wall which formed its back was adorned with a large painting representing a gallant ship beating against a terrible storm off a lee coast of black rocks and snowy breakers. But high above the flying scud and dark-rolling clouds, there floated a little isle of sunlight, from which beamed forth an angel's face; and this bright face shed a distinct spot of radiance upon the ship's tossed deck, something like that silver plate now inserted into the Victory's plank where Nelson fell. "Ah, noble ship," the angel seemed to say, "beat on, beat on, thou noble ship, and bear a hardy helm; for lo! the sun is breaking through; the clouds are rolling off - serenest azure is at hand."
Nor was the pulpit itself without a trace of the same sea-taste that had achieved the ladder and the picture. Its panelled front was in the likeness of a ship's bluff bows, and the Holy Bible rested on the projecting piece of scroll work, fashioned after a ship's fiddle-headed beak.
What could be more full of meaning? - for the pulpit is ever this earth's foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is the storm of God's quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is the God of breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favorable winds. Yes, the world's a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow.
Studying the text means listening to God directly. Nothing is more concise than the Scriptures, and that Word is a consistent, unified truth, each passage shedding light on other passages.
Two helps (besides the Sermons of Luther) are enormously valuable. One is Lenski, who dealt with the entire New Testament and all doctrinal questions attached to those individual passages. The other is the Triglotta, where the greatest theologians after Luther (not to mention the Reformer himself) give witness to their faith. Chemnitz, the senior editor of the Formula and Book of Concord, was at the peak of his career.
How droll to think that someone would copy Groeschel instead of studying Chemnitz, passing off his copy-cat fraud as a sermon!
Maintaining Faith
The first advantage of giving a real sermon is maintaining the faith of the pastor and his family. If he sincerely believes the Word of God, that will bear fruit in his own home. If that is all he does in his entire lifetime, that is worthwhile. Many have done less, adulterating the Word, enjoying outward success while stepping into the mire of atheism.
KJV 1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
Offering Truth
The second advantage is offering the truth to his congregation. Their numbers do not matter, except to People magazine. In a small, forgotten parish in the middle of nowhere, someone may hear the truth and believe, just before dying. How does anyone measure the value of that sermon?
Many times confusion will lead people to despair and doubt, so a good sermon is medicine against both maladies, an inoculation against future errors. We have shepherding dogs who love their owners and guard them far more than the CG pastor, who feeds the sheep to the wolves, identifying with the lupine set. Yet people love wolf-preaching, as Luther observed.
The Visible Word
The third advantage comes from the Sacraments. Baptizing babies is 100% certain sermonizing, the visible Word offered to the best, most trusting audience. We had non-Lutheran nurses who loved to tell our daughters about Jesus. One nurse said, "Your Erin looked at me like - I know that." The nurses were shaken a bit that these weak but intelligent girls, who could not speak, reflected that spiritual knowledge in their facial responses. We said, "Sure, they were baptized. They know all about their Savior."
Holy Communion is just as important, the visible Word imparting forgiveness individually, medicine for the soul. Sermons can feature Holy Communion or Holy Baptism, so people appreciate how God provides for us in the Means of Grace.
The ministry is not entertainment and recruitment, but Word and Sacrament. Clowning and entertaining are ways to say, "I do not trust the Word, which is too weak to be effective. It needs Fuller, Willow Creek and me to make it work."
Theologian in Training
A fourth advantage of sermon preparation is turning a seminary graduate into a theologian. If sermon preparation is paramount, if the Word is always on his lips, visitation and community relationships will always convey the Gospel to a secular world. People do not need one more Oprah.
The Cross
The cross will follow sermon preparation and remind the pastor how much Old Adam still resides in him. The last Beatitude seems taunting until many years later, when its truth becomes apparent. One member said to me, "I know all about the members who come to church just to grieve the pastor. I used to be one of them." At some point the Word reached that vexed and vexing layman.
Lutheran clergy can often be Satan's own handmaidens, plucking away members, using false doctrine and deception to drive home the sayings about the cross. Most likely the circuit pastor and DP are the worst of the lot. Jesus had the entire religious establishment against Him and He still converted a few like Nick at Night and Aramathea Joe. We can wish all day that the Lutheran Church might remember the Reformation better than the Inquisition, but there was a day when one man had only the Word and one prime human example to follow - Hus, who was burned at the stake.
The Reformation was built upon the sermon, the efficacious Word of God.
